Blog

Novel research adds to our understanding of Seattle’s minimum wage

The UW team that is studying the impacts of Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance released a study yesterday that finds that the increase to $13 last year (for some large employers) resulted in reduced hours for low-wage workers, which had the net effect of lowering their earnings by $125 a month on average. This study is […]

Study finds minimal impacts from Seattle minimum wage law, but the jury’s still out

A new study from Michael Reich, Sylvia Allegretto, and Anna Godoey of the University of California, Berkeley looks at the effects of Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance. The headline finding is that, as the Seattle Times puts it, “Seattle’s minimum-wage law has led to higher pay for restaurant workers without affecting the overall number of jobs […]

Paid sick leave rulemaking is ongoing

Earlier this month, the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) released draft proposed rules for I-1433. I-1433, approved by voters last year, increases the state minimum wage (effective Jan. 1, 2017) and mandates paid sick leave statewide (effective Jan. 1, 2018). Paid sick leave is a brand new requirement for many employers—unless they are in […]

Policy issues on the Seattle horizon

Earlier this week the Seattle City Council approved its 2017 work program (via Seattle City Council Insight). Although details are scant, the program provides some idea of the issues councilmembers want to work on this year. Much of the program is carried over from last year, but there are several new items of interest. Affordable […]

Washington’s union membership increase driven by public sector

Union membership in Washington increased in 2016, as Opportunity Washington noted a few weeks ago. Professors Barry Hirsch of Georgia State University and David Macpherson of Trinity University have since updated their data, which includes a break out of public sector and private sector unionization rates by state. In 2016, the total union membership rate […]

Roundup of Seattle business climate issues

Several policies impacting Seattle’s business climate have been in the news recently. Minimum Wage: As of Jan. 1, the minimum wage in Seattle rose to $15 an hour for employees of businesses that have 501 or more workers and don’t offer health benefits. (Other businesses will get there by 2021.) In July, the UW team that […]

Side-by-side comparison of paid family leave bills

Two paid family leave bills have been introduced so far this session: SB 5032 (and the identical HB 1116) and SB 5149. Lens has a good story on the issue. In the tables below, I compare these bills with the paid family leave program that was enacted in 2007 (but never implemented) and with HB […]

Roundup of year-end agency news

A number of agency announcements have made my inbox over the last month: Unemployment Insurance: The Employment Security Department announced this month that UI tax rates will remain the same for all rate classes in 2017. The average tax rate will be about 1.24 percent in 2017 (down from 1.38 percent in 2016). The average tax […]

Results from the federally-funded research on paid family leave in WA

Last week Gov. Inslee’s office released some research on paid family leave. The research was funded by a federal grant and, according to Inslee’s press release, “will inform paid leave efforts initiated under the Obama administration.” President Obama’s 2017 budget proposal includes six weeks of paid family leave for federal employees. Meanwhile, President-elect Trump indicated […]

Labor policy reprieves, in Seattle and the nation

Some updates from the past week on the status of the federal overtime rule and funding for Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards (OLS): First, yesterday a federal judge stopped the Obama administration’s new overtime rule, which was scheduled to go into effect Dec. 1. Several states had challenged the rule in court. The judge granted a […]